Ukrainian official says combat dolphins went on hunger strike after being captured by Russians

This sounds like something from a C-grade action movie with crappy CGI, but it’s actually real life.

Ukraine’s military dolphin force reportedly went on a hunger strike after being captured by Russians, according to a Ukrainian official.

Boris Babin, Ukraine’s government representative in Crimea, said the dolphins defied their captors after being seized back in 2014.

This military unit of dolphins was a real thing, located at an aquarium in Sevastopol, which was seized when Russia annexed Crimea.

Dolphins have a remarkable knack for picking up sounds and objects underwater thanks to their sonar abilities, which no doubt was viewed as highly valuable to the Ukrainian navy for detecting sea mines and enemy subs.

So losing a pod of highly-trained, elite dolphins wouldn’t be great.

In a story published by Ukrainian masthead Obozrevatel, Babin said the combat dolphins refused to cooperate with their new superiors.

“The dolphins trained by the Navy in Sevastopol contacted their trainers through special whistles,” Babin said.

“The Russians received these whistles and all the rest of the special property of the corresponding military unit, but the trained animals refused to not only interact with the new Russian coaches, but refused food and after what time perished.”

This sounds like some pretty serious stuff but, as pointed out by Sam Wolfson in an article for The Guardian, these patriotic claims have been denied.

In a yarn published by Russia’s state-run newsagency RIA, Duma deputy Dmitry Belik said the dolphins were either put to commercial use or died of natural causes.

“From 1995 to 2014, combat dolphins, who after the collapse of the USSR were in Ukraine, worked in private dolphinariums and did not engage in combat training,” he said.

“There is no question of any Ukrainian patriotism with respect to combat dolphins because it was in Ukraine that the special forces of dolphins [were demilitarised and] engaged in non-submarine operations, but exclusively commercial activities.”